Ring of Fire

(Lore via Laeviss' unverified personal gnosis /UPG from May through October 2011. Although I have *tried* to substantiate my UPG with actual evidence found in scholarly books, I make no claim that mine is the only rightful interpretation, merely that it is my own interpretation.)

   I have explored some twisting and acrobatic pathways during my search to rediscover Loki's rune, and some other of his lore, including the method of producing one type of a Ring of Power. I name Loki's rune as kenaz, and the lore as Laeviss (destructive wisdom.) What is it de-structing? The constructs of orderly society, which must occasionally be rearranged in order to allow growth and positive change to occur.

    Kenaz has but the one sound (k) though there are two ways to draw this rune. One way is similar to a "greater than" sign or a "less than" sign like so: < or >, depending on whether the runic energies are desired as increase or decrease, off or on, or "upright" or "inversed" or whatever other artificial duality one might wish to invoke. The other way to draw this rune is similar to an uruz rune but with a stem in the upper left corner, somewhat like a lowercase letter "h."

   Kenaz means "torch" and signifies bound or tamed flame, useful to society as opposed to wildfire in its natural state. In old Norse, this rune was kaun, meaning "ulcer." It is related to a bunch of other words, including kin, king, keen, and (as Freya Aswynn points out in her book Northern Mysteries and Magic) cunning and "cunt." It is recognized even today as a symbol for knowledge, and also as a symbol of passion (as in "to hold a torch" for someone.)

   The meaning behind Loki's name is stated often in sources as being unclear. It is possibly related to the Norse word logi (wildfire) or is related to the Norse word luka, meaning "close" (as in shut, end or desist.) Another Norse word, lokka, means "shutter" as in an exterior window covering. Interestingly, there is also an Old Norse word, "auki" which rhymes with Loki meaning "increase or magnify." Being a people whose traditions were passed down orally, the Old Norse folk may have been as interested in puns and similar-sounding words with interesting and connecting connotations as some of the other ancient societies (such as the Sumerians) were. I found in an Old Norse dictionary the prefix leuk, which means "to light" or "to shine." Not surprisingly, I also found that the prefix leug, which is also similar-sounding, means "to bend" and points towards a definite wizardly leaning for Loki. Most scholars, while admitting that they just don't know where Loki's name originated, tend to lean towards the "luka" theory. They say this points to his role at the "end" of times, at Ragnarok. We know from the lore that Loki's parents are stated as being Laufey (island of trees) and Farbauti (a primal being who shoots fire arrows, "lightning.") So then Loki is also a lightning-blasted tree. He's still smoldering.

   In Scandinavia, the star Sirius (the "dog star") has been referred to as Lokabrenna (Loki's torch.) So here Loki is holding a torch. How significant is that? Aside from the other more esoteric and occult inferences of the dog star, and the very word dog itself, it's very significant. Remember that kenaz actually means "torch." Loki's flame can be turned on and off (open, shut) like a light switch (or a torch - a flashlight) by someone who has the key. In the closed position (>), he's "locked." Luka/lock.  In the open position (<) the torch is burning. Looks like kenaz to me.

   Loki's mother Laufey is said to have another name, Nal (meaning needle.) It was said she was called this on account of her being so slight and slim. But needles have another characteristic. They have eyes (as in an orifice.)

"Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu - chapter 11
Thirty spokes share the wheel's hub;
It is the center hole that makes it useful.
Shape clay into a vessel;
It is the space within that makes it useful.
Cut doors and windows for a room;
It is the holes which make it useful.
Therefore profit comes from what is there;
Usefulness from what is not there."

   The significance of names cannot be overstated. In mythology, the names tell us exactly what the hero/being/god/goddess is there for. If you are just given the name of a mythological hero, and not told what the meaning behind the name is, you're going to remain in the dark, so to speak, about the true nature of that being. Loki is almost always identified with his mother's name in the lore (Loki, son of Laufey) not by his father's name, as are the rest of the Aesir (as in Odin, son of Bor.) Although Loki isn't technically an Aesir, he is of Giant (or primal being) stock, but is "counted among the Aesir" according to Snorri Sturluson, so bear with me. This tells me that he is a very old deity, and that he represents a time when all descent came through the mother. So he inherits a lot of her characteristics, and the needle's eye is most likely one of them.
In one version of the story (part of the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason, translated by Peter Tunstall) Loki is described as being small ("not great of growth") so we are made aware that he shares the characteristic of a slight build with his mother.
   We are also told in the story that Loki "outdid other men in that sort of wisdom which is called guile" (usually translated as "cunning") and that he was "very crafty." It also states very clearly that Loki set out for Asgard (the home of the Aesir) "to find Odin and become his man" meaning he wanted to serve Odin of his own free will. Odin "always spoke according to Loki's counsel" and that Odin set Loki to "difficult tasks" which he performed better than expected. It also says that Loki knew "near enough everything that went on, and he told it all to Odin, whatever he knew."
   Nothing evil there. This description sounds very much like a faithful and trusted companion. Then why is Loki usually demonized in almost all writings involving the Norse Gods? This may have come from Christian writers needing to equate Loki with the concept of the Christian devil, as they had somewhat assimilated the concept of Odin into the role of Jesus. But it may also arise from Loki's very clear correlation with the Norse term, "argh" (the worst Old Norse term of insult) meaning unmanly, with various connected associations including (but not limited to) effeminacy, witchcraft, shapeshifting, practicing seid (prophesying), being a pregnant animal, or having intercourse with an animal. The main inference of argh, however, was that the man so described, as a freeborn male, played the passive role in same-sex encounters. (The role of the active male in a same-sex encounter was not considered argh, and any male thrall or slave would not have been considered argh, either, as they could not possibly have been expected to exercise free will in the matter.)
Let's see whose picture we can paint with the term argh...who among the Norse Gods has experience with shapeshifting (yeah, that's Loki. He can be a fly, a flea, a mare, a hawk, a woman...), witchcraft (Loki turns Idunn into a nut in one story, so we get the double whammy of both witchcraft and shapeshifting), having sex with an animal (Svadlfari the stallion), and giving birth after shapeshifting into a woman or an animal (Sleipnir being the result of Loki's union with Svadlfari, plus the unnamed children Odin claims Loki gave birth to in the Lokasenna.)
   I don't think it's much of a jump here to say that Loki is probably involved in other activities associated with the term argh, too. So let's say he's playing the passive role in sex with another man. I don't even think that that gymnastic stretch counts as a mental cartwheel, though the gebo-rune is definitely involved.
   How do I know that Loki is engaged in this activity? Well, Odin said so. It's right in the lore. In the Lokasenna, Odin says to Loki, calling him argh: "Winters eight wast thou under the earth, milking the cows as a maid, aye, and babes didst thou bear. Unmanly thy soul must seem!" This appears to scholars to be somewhat corrupted, and translators seem to agree that "one or two of the last lines may be spurious." Sure, at least one of them is. By the time the Lokasenna was committed to writing, the people had been Christianized, and ANY male/male sexual encounter, no matter which partner played the "active" or "passive" role, was considered an abomination. The Christian person writing the sagas down wouldn't have wanted to accuse Odin of what they considered a "sin." Odin was a pagan god, but he was still a heroic figure and a proud memory of the Norse Viking past, one that the Christian scholars would have liked to preserve. But any student of Old Norse sagas could probably tell you what the original last line of Odin's taunt may have been. The stereotypical formula read, after accusing your male opponent of giving birth to offspring, "And I, (insert your name here, for bragging rights) was the father!"
Now, in an ordinary verbal duel between ordinary men, this accusation would most probably have been at the very least an exaggeration on the part of the accuser and even more likely completely false. However, in the Lokasenna, most of the accusations leveled against the other gods by Loki do seem to have been truthful, and Loki certainly does not deny Odin's claims regarding him.
   One might find it odd that Odin would admit to being involved in such activities with Loki. However, to the pre-Christian Norse, there was no taint at all to having a very active penis, as long as you were the man doing the penetrating. In fact, a man might even be thought extra-virile the more encounters he had, no matter the gender of the receptive partner. (And, by all accounts, Odin had a lot of partners. He enjoyed bragging about his activities with women.)
    Odin also tells us in those few lines in the Lokasenna exactly what use he was putting those encounters with Loki to. What the heck does he mean, that Loki was under the earth (some versions state a "in a cave") milking cows? Milking cows was definitely womanish behavior, it was a task allotted to women only. In modern times, the word "milk" has been used as a slang term to represent semen. Well, here's another mental leap: Snorri Sturluson says "Odin knew finely where all missing cattle (representing wealth) were concealed under the earth, and understood the songs by which the earth, the hills, the stones, and mounds were opened to him; and he bound those who dwell in them by the power of his word, and went in and took what he pleased." (Ynglingasaga) Got that? Or, should I say, "got milk?" Loki sure did.
Back to the Lokasenna. It's clear from these few lines of Odin's that the magic he is performing with Loki is secret (the cows aren't the only things being hidden, here.) Odin encodes the information so that it is only partially decipherable, and only to those who are versed in such magic. The rest of the audience wouldn't comprehend it, they'd understand only the taunt of unmanliness.
   It's also clear (to me, at least) from reading the Lokasenna that Odin is the only god Loki is working this magic with/for. For any other male to have access to sexual encounters with Odin's partners would, under the Aesir beliefs, undermine Odin's supremacy as chief deity. Odin wouldn't have allowed that. Nobody else at Aegir's feast accuses Loki of having birthed their children.
Note that this does not prevent Loki himself from pursuing sexual activities with women. He either claims or implies to have done a lot of this in the Lokasenna, though not with any of Odin's partners. None of Loki's encounters with women would have had any negative impact on Odin's status. Odin appears to have allowed him free rein here.
   The Goddesses in the Lokasenna seem to go out of their way to try to prevent the information about the nature of Loki and Odin's relationship from being publicly acknowledged, probably because it was so socially unacceptable to the Aesir. After Odin has let the cat out of the bag, his wife, Frigga, reminds him that it is not a subject that should be publicly discussed. Although it must have been well known that Loki was an obvious candidate for the label of an ergi shaman (definitely argh behavior), apparently no one had ever so accused him publicly before. Idunn, Bragi's wife, spends two verses in the Lokasenna begging her husband and reminding herself not to respond to Loki's verbal accosting. Why did the Gods spend so much time trying NOT to respond to Loki's attacks? They could have easily done so, there are so many situations in the lore in which Loki is very obviously unmanly that the Gods would have had no end of source material for retaliation if they had wished to do so. They did not do so, most likely because (as Idunn herself put it) Loki is Odin's kin. Idunn says, "Well, prithee, Bragi, his kinship weigh, since chosen as wish-son he was; and speak not to Loki such words of spite here within Ægir's hall."
   Odin himself acknowledges Loki's assertion that he and Odin have become "blood brothers" bound by oath. Loki reminds Odin of this when he is at first refused entrance to Aegir's feast hall in the Lokasenna, and Odin does not deny it, therefore we can assume it to be true. This gave Loki a legal status under the Norse laws as kin to Odin. According to Old Norse law, anyone publicly accused of being unmanly has the right to retaliate by immediately attacking the accuser, to the death. Any male kin standing by would necessarily become involved, and were allowed to attack the accuser to the death, without payment of wergild (money paid to a family upon the killing of one of their members.) This means that anyone calling Loki out in public would also have had to fight Odin and possibly Thor, as well, if he happened to be around at the time. Not a happy prospect. So the gods go out of their way to not mention even the possibility that Loki might be unmanly. It is only when Odin himself at last makes a public declaration of it that it can be acknowledged by the rest of the gods.
   So, what sort of magic was this, and what did it produce for Odin? We already know from reading the lore that Odin set Loki to difficult tasks, many of which involve him contracting with Earth Elementals (dwarves, dark elves, whatever the texts may call them) to produce things of value for the Aesir. It says in the Prose Edda, after Loki has already contracted with certain dwarves (the sons of Ivaldi) to create several items (Sif's hair, Odin's spear Gungnir, and Freyr's ship Skidbladnir) "then Loki wagered his head with the dwarf called Brokk that Brokk's brother Sindri could not make three other precious things equal in virtue to these." These three items were Mjollnir (Thor's hammer), Gullinbursti (Freyr's golden-bristled boar), and Draupnir, (Odin's ring), which produced eight golden rings of like weight from itself every ninth night. It was, in fact, an object known as a Ring of Increase.
   According to the story presented in the lore, the Norse Gods judge the two sets of gifts in order to decide which gift is the most valuable, and when they decide upon Mjollnir as the most worthy object (making Sindri the winner of the competition), Loki must forfeit his head to Brokk. He first tries to ransom his head, when this is refused by Brokk, Loki tries to escape using his magic shoes. Thor is sent to bring Loki back, and seeing he has no alternative, Loki grudgingly agrees to allow his head to be removed in payment of his wager, but only so long as his neck remains unscathed. Brokk concedes that he can't possibly remove the one without damage to the other, and allows Loki to keep his head, though Brokk does use an awl and a thong (Vartari, "lip-tearer") in order to tie Loki's mouth shut, an apparent reminder to keep silent about the magic. (It also is part of the procedure to make an oracular head, but normally the head wouldn't still be alive at the time.)
   I find it important to note that there is some interesting symbolism regarding Loki's magical shoes (which, according to the lore, allow him to walk on either water or air.) According to J.E. Cirlot in A Dictionary of Symbols, shoes are often symbolic of the vagina. In the Continuum Encyclopedia of Symbols, the foot is described as a phallic symbol, while the shoe is symbolic of the vulva. One is reminded of both the Cinderella story and Dorothy's ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz. In an ancient wedding custom, men would place their spear or sword inside of their bride's shoe in order to claim their exclusive sexual rights with her. I find it very interesting, but not entirely surprising, that Odin has a magical spear, while Loki ended up with the shoes.
Since the subject of this writing is shamanistic sex magic, the object in discussion here is Odin's ring, Draupnir, which is produced through that method. The Ring of Increase, according to Laeviss, conveys not only limitless, self-regenerating wealth but a number of other characteristics, as well, including what was referred to as "luck-fame." Luck-fame offered the client (the original commissioner of the ring) a number of protections, including long life, an excellent reputation, political power, persuasive abilities and strong allies. The ring could, and did, produce kings. It was, however, difficult to produce, took many years to finish, and came at a high cost to not only the client, but more importantly for the magic worker who contracted with the elementals to produce said ring.
   In fact, the ring was so difficult to produce and came at such a high cost that it was seldom contracted for, and then only in times of great perceived need.
   The procedure was thus: A client (the would-be "king") would obtain, by free will consent, the services of a freeborn male ergi shaman, who would contract with the Earth Elementals to produce, via the usual and customary method of energy-raising, the Ring of Increase. The following conditions had to be met: 1) The client must be deemed "worthy" by the magic practitioners, as the Ring only magnifies what is already present. ("You have to give us something to work with," according to Brokk, and Laeviss indicates that he only performed this ritual for Odin because he believed so strongly that Odin was a worthy recipient of the Ring.) 2) The shaman acts as a vessel to channel the energy of the client, never the other way around. Remember kenaz? The shaman and the Earth Elementals will increase and magnify whatever energies are already present within the client's potential. They can't manufacture something out of nothing. 3) The shaman pledges his head to the elementals as the payment for the services. The shaman must be a free man in order to enter into this contract, and do so "freely and willingly." (Brokk tells me that they didn't actually want the head, but it could have made a nice oracular head for the client. Brokk says they only wanted the "life-force" or blood of the sacrifice. The removal of the head was customary to prevent the shaman from reanimating his corpse, which was thought possible at the time. The normal method of sacrifice at the time that Odin and Loki lived was strangulation followed by throat cutting to let the blood out.) Note that Laeviss emphatically states that this type of sacrifice is no longer required as per new instructions from the Goddess. He is merely telling you what the method was in the past. Laeviss says to seek an alternate form of payment no matter what the Earth Elementals try to tell you. 3) The Ring took eight years to produce.  4) This is a pagan rite, and it must be acknowledged as such by the practitioners. 5) The sacrifice on the part of the shaman had to be provided freely and willingly. If it was offered unwillingly, or obtained by murder, even if the Ring was delivered it would come with major negative energy (a curse, so to speak) attached to it, thus it would provide the wealth but otherwise perform about the opposite to its intended effect, causing early, often violent, death, a tarnished reputation, etc. (Which is exactly what happens to the ring Andvari made in the Lore, which was obtained by Loki from Andvari after killing the shaman Otter, who had contracted for it on behalf of his client. Who Otter's client was is not stated in the Lore, but one could assume it might be either Fafnir, who is said to be Otter's brother, or Hreidmar, who is said to be Otter's father. Loki and Odin merely delivered this cursed ring, Andvarinaut, to its rightful heir, so the curse didn't affect them.)
   If a substitution of sacrificial victim was made in the payment of the debt to the Earth Elementals, the substitute had to also be willing to accept his death in sacrifice, or else the Ring would become cursed. Thus, Balder must have willingly accepted his death as payment of the debt.
   The rite to produce the Ring of Increase entailed some side effects for both the client and the shaman, which might best be described as a combination of compelling need bordering on obsession, burning desire, and near-madness (similar to the curse Skirnir threatens to call down on the giantess Gerd if she does not agree to marry Freyr.) The two souls become very twined around each other, like the snakes on a caduceus, and to call them "soulmates" might not even grasp the scope of the possible effects. The effects can be alleviated somewhat by making certain that the shaman and the client are never prevented from interacting, emotionally, spiritually or physically when the need arises.
   As some of these Rings had been produced over generations, the Earth Elementals eventually came to a realization that the best results of their endeavors would be obtained by not separating the client from the shaman at the end of the eight years, and to allow a substitution to be made in the sacrifice. (Brokk tells me that Odin was the first king to ever request this change and use it to his advantage.) It seems that the Earth Elementals had a vested interest in the outcome of the production of Rings of Power, especially the Ring of Increase, which could have a profound effect on the ordering and maintenance of the earth. As stated before, the Earth Elementals refused the working if they did not find the client to be of enough worth. Brokk tells me that in ages past, the work would be performed and the Ring delivered, with the accompanying sacrifice of the shaman it entailed, only to have some of the client/Kings go mad and/or die shortly after the shaman. It seems that the client became so mentally, spiritually and emotionally attached to the shaman during a successful working of this ritual that it was impossible for him to continue in the lifetime without the shaman.    Because of this, it was deemed necessary to allow a substitution to be made, though the shaman still had to willingly pledge his head and follow through if the client did not request a substitute at the completion of the ritual. (Brokk says, "You had to be willing to die for your client, and complete the ritual knowing that you will give your life for it. Naturally, there have never been too many lining up to take advantage of this sort of magic.")

   (*Author's note: Laeviss has no wish to reduce the symbolism of the runes to this one very narrow interpretation. The runes hold vast amounts of spiritual knowledge, and to try to contain them thus would be folly. Runes do not reduce, they expand horizons.*) In meditation I received an interesting burst of insight. Now, I have studied the runes for years, and never had noticed this before. But I came to understand it after receiving the previous information regarding the Ring of Increase. The first aett of the futhark read as thus: (excuse my keyboard's lack of runic symbols, I'll use the English letters instead, except for gebo, since I do have that symbol.)
F: There is wealth, fame and other treasure
U: stored or hidden in the primal energies in the earth
Th: guarded well
A:  Odin can access this (this is Odin's rune)
R: by riding (in a spiritual as well as other senses)
K: (here's Loki's rune, for reasons I've already explained)
X: this is a sexual rite
W: This rite isn't for procreation, but will bring much joy, happiness and worth to the world.

   One might ask: why didn't the client employ a female shaman for this sort of magic? First of all, the rite takes eight years to fulfillment. Suppose that in the ancient times that these rites were practiced there did exist foolproof birth control methods and a woman could engage in repeated sexual intercourse with a man and not expect to become pregnant. Even if this were so, it would not be practical as it would remove a huge percentage out of a woman's childbearing years.
   Women can and do contract with Earth Elementals to produce Rings of Power or other useful manifestations. They do this generally on their own behalf, not for a client, although no doubt it would be possible for them to do so. Note that in the Lore, Freyja contracts for the Brisingamen for herself, not for anyone else. She does this via the usual and customary method (sex magic.) Women do not need to offer themselves or anyone else in blood sacrifice, they give blood every month, and this is sufficient unless the ring produced is as complex as the one Odin desired (according to Brokkr.)
   We know from the Norse myths that Odin wanted this Ring, and ordered Loki to procure it for him. We also know that he couldn't have Freyja's Ring. In the garbled and Christianized version of the tale that remains to us, Odin ended up having to give it back to her after he had ordered Loki to steal it. Therefore, Loki had to get Odin his own Ring. We know that Odin was convinced that Loki had the ability to get the Ring, or Odin would not have ordered him to do so.
   Can one produce things other than rings this way? Laeviss says, "Absolutely. A whole slew of things can be produced this way. What do you want?"

Bitter Cold

At this festive time of year, when one's thoughts naturally turn to the comforts of home and hearth, the holiday cheer of friends, feasting and song, my thoughts tend to turn to a colder, darker place. A place where the fires burn cold, and the frost bites hard.
Why, one might ask, would someone like Loki take upon himself the hardships, the physical discomforts, the pain and the torments of someone else? What inducement could there possibly be to do this?

It is in the nature of Loki to do this, because Loki contains within himself at first awareness the seed of a desire full grown. And this desire is love, and the nature of this love is that which is seen at the dawn, when the individual beauties of all of the night stars are dimmed by the arrival of the one great and wonderful sun, which envelops the world with light. And then no other light will be seen.
When Freyja sets Her hound to the scent, the hound will run true, and abide then where She bids him go, for it is in his nature, and what he most desires to do.
If, when he arrives, he is turned away at the door, there he will sit, outside in the cold, and no punishment will be more keenly felt by him than to be denied a place at his master's hearth.

For the venom served cold is the gift that bites the hardest, and there is but a small bowl to hold these drops.

Laeviss translates the Wolf Charm

There is a charm in Old Norse, which translated into English reads:

"Call me varg,

and I'll be arg.

Call me golden,

I'll be beholden."

Laeviss describes the meaning behind this magical charm: Varg means wolf, and this is what the Old Norse called their outlaws, those who had broken the rules of society, who had allowed disorder an inroad. These people, if they were not killed outright, were forced outside the bounds of normal society and lived in the Utangard, the wilderness, because they were outcasts. It was forbidden for any member of Norse society to feed or shelter an outcast, they were considered non-persons and could be killed with impunity. (In fact, the punishment of freeborn men who willingly engaged in passive sexual intercourse with other men was very often death.) Laeviss notes the similarity and rhyming sound of the terms varg and arg (unmanly.) Ancient societies often used such aural tricks to remind listeners of  the connections between concepts that were not actually stated, but were important and true nonetheless.

Laeviss offers this personal translation of the intended spiritual meaning behind the Wolf Charm:

"For you, I'll be an outlaw;

yes, and give myself to you.

For the treasure you seek

I will pay the price."

Starship Troopers

There is a really great line in a really dreadful Star Trek movie. An entity encountered by the crew of the Enterprise claims to be God. He wants their ship. Captain Kirk, quite reasonably, wonders aloud, "What does God need with a starship?"

I ask myself the same sort of question every time I pass by charity collection kettles. Charities claim they are "doing God's work." This involves collecting loads of money from the population at large. But wait-when you think about it, what does God need with money?

The answer is...God only needs that starship, or that money, if you will, in order to "do work" in the physical realm. In the realm of spirit, there is no need of physical manifestation, no need of money or material gain. The "gold" represented in lore as belonging to deities has a metaphysical meaning in the realms of Asgard and Alfheim. It is only when viewed on the earthly plane that this "gold" becomes a material value that is necessary for the advancement of both spiritual and physical goals.

This is not to say that the physical universe is without spiritual value. Nothing could be further from the truth, and is, in fact, a lie which has been force-fed to us by agents who wish to degrade and discredit the holiness of the Earth and all life within Her sphere. Make no mistake...the Earth and life upon it is holy, and is a microcosm of the spiritual holiness of the realm of the Gods.

So, then...when in Asgard, the gold ring Draupnir drips spiritual wisdom, and when on Earth, it manifests physically, as gold, in order to provide for Odin that which He needs in order to complete His works in the physical realm.